Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad shot dead 14 people on Tuesday in the Syrian city of Hama, activists said, and France called on the United Nations to adopt a firm stance in the face of “ferocious armed repression.”(more…)

On 27 November 2008, the Iraqi Parliament ratified the final Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States. Under SOFA, U.S. combat forces would withdraw from Iraqi cities by 30 June 2009, and all U.S. forces will be completely out of Iraq by 31 December 2011, but allowing for further negotiation if Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s Prime Minister, believes the country is not stable enough. (more…)

Full text of speech given at the Press Conference held in Naples on April 6 by Rear Admiral Russell Harding OBE, Deputy Commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR.

Ladies and Gentlemen… Welcome to Naples and thank you very much for being here today.

Last Thursday, Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, the Commander of NATO’s Combined Joint Task Force Operation Unified Protector announced that NATO had assumed full responsibility for air and maritime operations in support of UN Security Council Resolution 1973 to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat in Libya. (more…)

NEAR BREGA, (AFP) – Rebel soldiers erected a checkpoint at the gate of the eastern Libyan town of Ajdabiya on Wednesday to prevent a convoy of eager but mostly unarmed civilians from reaching the front.

The soldiers, defectors from Moamer Kadhafi’s army, said they had orders to impose discipline on the hastily-assembled rebel forces a day after they were driven several kilometres (miles) back by loyalist artillery.

“We are stopping the youth who show up with guns,” said Sherif Mohammed, as he pulled a dented metal barricade across the road. “What are they going to do against shelling?” (more…)